EMPLOYMENT: 4,800

Jobs to go at ADC, SPX, Timken

If job cuts are the cause of lower consumer confidence, it may be justified.

A day after analysts blamed mounting layoffs for the drop in the closely watched index, U.S. companies announced plans Wednesday to eliminate 4,800 more jobs.

The biggest reduction was at ADC Telecommunications Inc., which said it would cut another 2,500 jobs and consolidate and close some facilities.

The moves--forced by continued weakness in spending on equipment and services for broadband communications networks--are expected to reduce annual operating expenses by up to $450 million, the company said.

The new job cuts come on top of 7,000 positions ADC has eliminated since November. By Oct. 31, The Minnetonka, Minn.-based company estimates, its worldwide workforce will have been reduced by approximately 40 percent since November.

Separately, Muskegon, Mich.-based industrial products and technical systems maker SPX Corp. said it planned to cut roughly 2,000 jobs, or 7 percent of its workforce, and close 49 manufacturing, sales and administrative facilities within the next year. The company said the moves were part of cost-cutting measures related to its May 24 acquisition of United Dominion Industries Ltd., an industrial products and systems company based in Charlotte. Only former UDI personnel and facilities would be affected by the cuts, SPX spokeswoman Tina Betlejewski said.

In addition, Canton, Ohio-based bearings-maker Timken Co. said it would cut another 300 jobs due to a slowing economy.